First time computer build. Have a few questions...

[Death2All]

I posted this on the Newegg forums but I figured I'd post it here for extra advice since I'm impatient:

Hello, as the title suggests this is my first time building a computer, or at least attempting to. My questions are mainly concerned about installation, mainly what I'll need, what will be provided etc.



Firstly, when all of my parts are shipped to me am I going to have all the neccersary cables I need? I assumed a few cables will come with the power supply or other parts, but will I need to get more?

Second, I don't plan on overclocking my processor (not yet anyways) will the stock heatsink that comes with the processor function fine? Am I going to get the most of out the processor or should I invest more into an aftermarket heatsink?

Thirdly, I plan on reusing a few parts from my old computer, namely the optical drive, do I need to worry about compatibility with CD drives or are they all universal and work together seamlessly?



A few other questions...



What all will I need to build this computer, most guides say all I simply need is a work area, some free time and screw driver. Then other guides tell me I should get anti static mats, anti static wrist guards, rubberized gloves, etc. How of this stuff do I actually need. Keep in mind this is my first time building and I'll be prone to make mistakes most likely.

Also, what is the best time of year to build a computer? Like I said, I've yet to get the parts, I'm in the process of just learning everything I need to do before I even get started and then really finding what parts I should get for a great high end build. It seems that New Egg is always emailing me with sales it's having, so I suppose the smart thing would be to wait around until the parts I want come on sale, but how realistic is this? This Black Friday/Cyber Monday sale seemed like a great time to buy parts, many of the ones I was considering were on sale, but I'd hate to wait another year to buy parts again, especially since new ones will be out by that time and I'll have to rethink my build yet again.

This is all I can think of right now, thanks.

[Goku]

I posted this on the Newegg forums but I figured I'd post it here for extra advice since I'm impatient:

Hello, as the title suggests this is my first time building a computer, or at least attempting to. My questions are mainly concerned about installation, mainly what I'll need, what will be provided etc.



Firstly, when all of my parts are shipped to me am I going to have all the neccersary cables I need? I assumed a few cables will come with the power supply or other parts, but will I need to get more?

Everything that you purchase will come with what you need.

Second, I don't plan on overclocking my processor (not yet anyways) will the stock heatsink that comes with the processor function fine? Am I going to get the most of out the processor or should I invest more into an aftermarket heatsink?

If you are not overclocking there isn't any reason for an aftermarket other then noise reduction.

Thirdly, I plan on reusing a few parts from my old computer, namely the optical drive, do I need to worry about compatibility with CD drives or are they all universal and work together seamlessly?

All DVD/CD drives are universal. You will not be able to use a IDE type one on the 1155 mobos due to only supporting Sata drives now. I am not 100% sure if the AMD 900 series is like this though.



A few other questions...



What all will I need to build this computer, most guides say all I simply need is a work area, some free time and screw driver. Then other guides tell me I should get anti static mats, anti static wrist guards, rubberized gloves, etc. How of this stuff do I actually need. Keep in mind this is my first time building and I'll be prone to make mistakes most likely.

There will be fanatics out there telling you to go all out with that stuff you mentioned. I personally never make use of it and just prior to touching a component touch a metal surface to ground/de static myself. All you need is a open area to assemble, a philips+flat head screw driver (I purchased this (http://www.frozencpu.com/products/11024/too-22/Universal_Screw_Driver_II_Set.html) and never looked back, and patience. If you want to feel more secure I recommend grabbing one of those bracelets anyway.


Also, what is the best time of year to build a computer? Like I said, I've yet to get the parts, I'm in the process of just learning everything I need to do before I even get started and then really finding what parts I should get for a great high end build. It seems that New Egg is always emailing me with sales it's having, so I suppose the smart thing would be to wait around until the parts I want come on sale, but how realistic is this? This Black Friday/Cyber Monday sale seemed like a great time to buy parts, many of the ones I was considering were on sale, but I'd hate to wait another year to buy parts again, especially since new ones will be out by that time and I'll have to rethink my build yet again.

I don't think there is any particularly good time to buy computer specifically during the year. There is always deals on computer hardware throughout the year that easily match anything on BF like the Microcenter 2500k/mobo combo. Even if there is more sales going on during the Christmas season you likely will not be moving up with the tier of your components. Easiest way is to just build when you have the funds and go at it in my opinion.

This is all I can think of right now, thanks.

Above in red. If you have any other questions or want clarifications with what they're saying on the other forum feel free to ask. Building computers on your own is the best way to go.

[Death2All]

Wow, thanks a lot, Goku. If I think of anymore questions I know where to go to now.

When the time comes and I'm finally ready to buy all the necessary parts I'll be sure to make a thread here so you can look it over. Thanks again.

[Goku]

You're welcome!

[Death2All]

Okay, here's a few "buyer beware" questions that I have.

I've been looking up various parts, reading all the reviews carefully and a common thing I'm seeing mostly related to HDDs is that they come DOA. Other than reading reviews carefully and learning which ones have a high failrate, is there anything else I can really do to to avoid getting one like this? Is it something easy to detect just by simply looking at the stats of the hardrive.


Another few questions on Hardrives in regards to it's specifications. I see a lot of SATA 6.0 GB/s 24mb cache 7200rpm. Presumably, the higher the whichever specification the better it is.

From what I've read up on, SATA is just the standard drive being used nowadays, 7200 rpm seems to be the standard rpm for most hardrives, cache I have no clue about or how that ties into performance, presumably a higher cache = high performance.

My question is, it worth paying the extra money for those "faster" specifications. Does it really make that big of a deal in the grand scheme of things.

[Goku]

I wouldn't worry about DoA. If it happens just send it back for a new one. I cannot say I know off the top of my head any HDD maker has sky high failure rates like that.

No hard drive can take advantage of Sata III verse II at the moment, so you do not have to worry about that.

Paying a premium in todays market is not worthwhile. With 1 TB drives going $150+ I would get whatever you can at the cheapest price. Hard drives are not going to be huge in terms of speed differences. Some are faster yes, but it likely will not be noticeable.

If you really want faster loading times you should be looking at SSDs.